116 DANGERS 07 THE LIQUOR TRADE. 



8on more manifest in man liimself than any other creature or thing. 

 Their enemies they esteem as the more special incarnation of this prin- 

 ciple, and next to thom they regard a worthless, mean, and cowardly indi- 

 vidual of their own people. They also look upon creatures of an injurious 

 and hurtful nature, as the greater or less impersonation of evil. 



Their notions of right and wrong are equally simple. 



It is right to be brave, to do good to friends, to relieve the needy, to feed 

 the hungry, and to worship the Great Spirit, — these are acts of general 

 morality. There are various other duties taught by their code relative to 

 intercourse with each other, — to children and parents, husbands and wives, 

 deference to age, chastity etc., the performance of which is essential to 

 virtue. 



The line of demarkation between virtue and vice is yet more simple and 

 comprehensive ; — every thing derelict of right is wrong. 



I shall recur to several points, connected with the foregoing subjects, in 

 another place. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Dangers connected with the liquor trade.— Difficulty viith Bull Eagle.— Scenes of 

 bloodshed and horror.— Cheating in the fur trade.— How the red man becomes 

 tutored in vice.— A chief's daughter offered in exchange for liquor. — Indian mode 

 of courtship and marriage. — Squaws an article of traffic. — Divorce. — Plurality oj 

 wives. 



The difficulty and danger, not to say crime and bloodshed, connected 

 with the illicit trade in alcohol, as conducted among our western Indians, 

 is great and imminent. To illustrate this point, I need only to place before 

 the reader a summary of facts which occurred, many of them under my 

 own observation, during the winter of 1842. 



Soon after our arrival at White river a man was sent to a neighboring 

 villao-e with a keg of diluted alcohol, for the purpose of barter. The 

 Indians, feeling more disposed to drink than pay for it, demanded the keg 

 as a gift " on the prairie." This was refused. They threatened — a fight 

 ensued, (the soldiers and trader defending the keg and the Indians trying 

 to take it.) Weapons were used, and the result was, both soldiers and 

 trader were beaten oflT, — the latter, after being dragged through the lodge- 

 fire three or four times, narrowly escaped with his life. 



A party of Indians under the excitement of strong drink, attacked and 

 took a trading house of the American Fur Company, near by, — robbing it 

 of both liquor and goods. 



Two parties in the Fur Company's employ, from different posts, met at 

 a neighboring village, — one having goods and the other alcoliol. The 

 Indians, as usual, got drunk, and commenced a fight among themselves ; — 

 because the goods-trader happened to be in the lodge of one of the weaker 

 party, they attacked him. He was compelled to flee, and barely escaped 

 with his life through the friendly interference of the squaws. His goods 



